In Harm's Way

'In Harm's Way', a new series from KALW, brings together stories of workers on the frontlines of harm reduction and overdose response in the Bay Area. These workers are saving lives for low pay while often dealing with their own trauma.

In Harm's Way Pt. 3: Not Enough Counselors

KALW | By Holly J. McDede

Published July 27, 2023 at 6:00 AM PDT

Shannon Robertson, a supervisor at HealthRight360, was once a patient at Walden House

This story aired on the July 27, 2023 episode of Crosscurrents.

In the third installment of the series, 'In Harm's Way: Workers Battle the Overdose Crisis', we take a look at the national staffing crisis among substance use disorder counsellors across the state, and spend time with a supervisor who started out as a group counsellor making $19 dollars an hour.

For a war on drugs that has proven to have not worked, that funding could very well have been used to pay counsellors more, which would get more counsellors

This story was edited by Lisa Morehouse and engineered by Galnadgee Joe-Johnson and this series is supported by the 2023 Center for Health Journalism California Health Equity Fellowship.

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